Al-Rahi’s courage moves Beirut: Iranian ambassador summoned to protest with Tehran
Something unique in recent history has happened in these hours in Lebanon: for the first time, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry has summoned the Iranian ambassador to Beirut, not to express submission to Tehran, but to officially protest against the Islamic Republic.
What happened is the result of what we have been telling you in recent days , or rather of the courageous public stances by the Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rahi. As you will recall in the last month – news that only Atlantico Quotidiano has reported to you in Italy – al-Rahi publicly condemned Iranian interference in Lebanon, Hezbollah's refusal to lay down its arms and corruption in the country. Not only that: al-Rahi asked for an international conference to be convened to guarantee Lebanon's neutrality and said he was in favor of the peace dialogue with Israel , based on the principle of the Arab peace plan promoted at the Beirut summit in 2002 and, indirectly, of the same Agreements of Abraham.
Al-Rahi's courageous words, of course, had been condemned by Hezbollah terrorists, who also took to the streets in Beirut, in order to threaten and intimidate opponents. In addition to internal convictions, however, there were also those coming indirectly from Tehran: a few days ago, in fact, the Iranian newspaper in Arabic language Al Alam published an article in which, in a nutshell, it accused the Maronite relations with Israel – which in Tehran means submission to the Zionist enemy – and that these positions were the result of pressure from right-wing groups known for their relations with the Jewish state.
Once again al-Rahi and the Maronite community were not intimidated. The Lebanese Patriarch harshly condemned the accusations coming from Tehran and asked the government to act immediately to put the Iranian regime back in its place. The protests forced the Lebanese foreign minister, Charbel Wehbe, to summon the Iranian ambassador to Beirut, Mohammad-Jalal Firouznia, in order to officially protest the article published by Al Alam . Interviewed by a local radio, Minister Wehbe also said that Tehran has already presented its official apology to the Maronite Patriarch.
What happened demonstrates the current extreme political weakness of Hezbollah, which has been discredited within the country for years and in fact accused by many of being responsible for the dramatic explosions in Beirut. At this point, however, what is missing is strong international support for Patriarch Al-Rahi, in order to strengthen his internal position, against those who, like Hezbollah, refuse to disarm – in defiance of UN resolution 1701 – and carry forward the agenda of a foreign actor, the Iranian one. Support should come primarily from Italy and the countries involved in the Unifil 2 mission, but also from the Vatican, after the Pope's important trip to Iraq and the meeting with Ayatollah al Sistani, known for his positions contrary to the Khomeinism. It would also be essential that, following the example of Germany and other European countries, the EU also decided to include all Hezbollah in the list of terrorist organizations, clarifying that none of its activities will be considered only "political", until the Lebanese terrorist group will not lay down its arms and stop threatening Israel.
The post The courage of al-Rahi moves Beirut: the Iranian ambassador summoned to protest against Tehran appeared first on Atlantico Quotidiano .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Atlantico Quotidiano at the URL http://www.atlanticoquotidiano.it/quotidiano/il-coraggio-di-al-rahi-smuove-beirut-convocato-lambasciatore-iraniano-per-protestare-con-teheran/ on Mon, 08 Mar 2021 04:59:00 +0000.